Phoenix Earth Food Co-op (PEFC)
Minutes, Board Meeting 1/24/2018

Location: Greenleaf Café 4933 Dorr St., Toledo OH 43615; Present:Thomas Fine, Claudia Cooper, Adrienne Armstrong, Maureen Ciesinski, Hermann von Grafenstein, Sean Fitzgerald (General Manager). Absent:Shelly Boraby, Alyx Kendzierski, Anita Levin, Mary Sawers. Resolutions are numbered R1-R2.

The meeting began at 6:40 pm.

1. Approval of minutes
   The minutes of the 12/20/2017 board meeting were approved (R1, 5/0/0 for/against/abstention).

2. Review of past action items

   Action Items:

   10/25/17

   • Tom will explore cracks in heat exchanger – done: no CO so far

   11/21/17

   • Hermann – will email corrected minutes to Anita – done
   • Hermann – will identify which minutes are missing and try to round them up – done:only March meetings are still missing.
   • Hermann – will locate sign-up sheet from Annual Meeting 2017 –done
   • Hermann & Alyx – will contact Kent Illenden at the OWE paper – ongoing
   • Claudia & Hermann – will get new date for presentation at Kahle Senior Center – done: March 1, 11:45am

   12/20/17

   • Hermann – write year-end letter and ask members if they have connections with special dietary groups – done
   • Mary – investigate commercial shared kitchen at Collingwood Presbyterian Church to connect coop – ongoing
   • Adrienne – merge inventory with vegan tailgate for 1/1/18 – done
   • Alyx – Twitter – ongoing
   • Claudia – Pinterest – ongoing
   • Sean – Investigate Farmers Market, Black Creek Farms for HABA – ongoing
3. General Manager's report

   Sean presented his report. A major new item was the collaboration with Humane Ohio. The coop will post cats for adoption and Humane Ohio will introduce the coop to its audience.

4. Financial report

   Tom presented the 2017 and last month's financial reports. The coop is breaking even but sales continue to decline.

5. Building appraisal
   • Tom presented an offer from Landlord Royce Haddad proposing a price range for the sale of the building to the coop.
   • A committee was formed to investigate the purchase. Members of the committee are: Tom Fine, Hermann von Grafenstein, Anita Levin, and GM Sean Fitzgerald (R2 5/0/0).
   • Tom will notify Royce about the formation of the committee.
   • Hermann will contact Mary Sawers regarding the names of building appraisers that could estimate a purchase price for the coop.
6. Outreach-committee report
   • A meeting had been held on Tues 1/16/18
   • At the meeting a flyer was designed announcing a vegan meetup on Jan 31.
   • Hermann presented end-of-year letter to members. The letter was approved with modifications.
7. Rewards for the marketing study group

   A discussion was held regarding reward coupons for the participants of Iryna Pentina's marketing groups. The store will not contribute financially, but will issue coupons if board members are willing to finance them.

   Adrienne Armstrong left the meeting

8. Action items going forward
   • Hermann will write to Chris Johnson's daughter expressing condolences for the death of her mother.
   • Hermann will continue looking the March 17 minutes or an audio file, and if found, send it to secretary Anita Levin.
   • Hermann will work with Alyx to contact Kent Illenden (lillenden@sfcgraphics.com) at The Historic Times (Old West End paper).
   • Mary will investigate the potential use by the coop of the kitchen at the Collingwood Presbyterian Church for the purpose of cooking demonstrations.
   • Alyx will look into the use of Twitter for coop advertising.
   • Claudia will make a Pinterest board.
   • Sean will identify items that could be displayed/offered at a coop booth at a farmer's-market (e.g. bulk items).
   • Sean will send messages to old regulars who have not visited the coop for some time.
   • Hermann will talk to Mary regarding potential coop-building appraisers. Consideration for an appraisal will be (1) cost of a new roof (2) repairs to the parking lot (3) a new heating/cooling system.
9. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:01pm.

Date and location of next meeting: February 28, 2018, at the Main Branch Toledo Lucas County Public Library, 325 Michigan St, Toledo, OH 43604 (if not decided otherwise).

Notes taken by Adrienne Armstrong and Claudia Cooper, written up by Hermann von Grafenstein